>>===== Through the eyes of the father =====

A dream.

I was back home watching anime with my sister.

She kept asking me cute questions about the characters.

"Who is stronger, brother?"

The boy with the orange hair of course.

It was my own bias towards the show that concluded my answers, but I also knew how it all ends since I had seen the series before she was even born.

Her little body pressed herself on me on the couch as she tried to cuddle with her older brother.

It was a calming and nostalgic experience.

I patted her hair and reached for popcorn with my other hand.

I choked a bit on the popcorn and began coughing.

I coughed and coughed until tears began to flood my eyes.

I closed my eyes to stop myself from crying, but when I opened them I only saw dirt in front of me.

The tears continued as my cheeks felt hot. I lifted myself slightly with my right arm and began to drown myself in tears. It didn't last long since my eyes dried up by themselves.

I began to cough. My tongue tasted bitter.

My lips were chapped and my throat was dry.

But I was alive.

I no longer felt cold. A warm sensation flowed through my body.

It was difficult to prop myself up and so instead I rolled over.

The sun wasn't very bright this time.

As I looked up I could only see a few clouds through the canopy of tall trees.

I lifted my left hand.

Two fingers were completely black dripping with puss.

Half of the pinky was gone as it seemed eaten away.

The ring finger was completely black and the nail was missing.

I couldn't move either of them.

Gangrene?

No.

There was no infection. Both of the fingers were pitch black up to the knuckle.

It was necrosis.

I dropped my hand back down and sighed.

I felt my forehead with my right hand.

The temperature was fine.

I sat up slowly and looked at my bandage.

It had a putrid smell.

I peeked underneath the bandage only to see a colony of larvae.

I was about to try and remove them, but I may have avoided the infection thanks to these guys.

Larvae were used for many years as a wound closing remedy. The lack of pain in my abdomen proved that this is exactly what happened.

I decided to let them continue cleaning my wound and the dead tissue.

I looked to where my left hand-laid and saw small pits of larvae and other insects. They must have been feeding on my fingers.

I got up only to immediately feel light-headed.

My stomach growled in hunger.

"I know buddy, but you're going to have to wait."

The human body is an amazing thing. To have gone through all this and I already feel just a bit better than I remember.

My stomach pains again, but this time for a different matter.

Although I have been urinating every time my body yearns for release. This is the first time I would have my bowel movement since waking up in the forest.

I used to be extremely picky about where I used the restroom and often avoided public restrooms.

However, months in space quickly made me lose any discomfort I had.

Luckily the stream was still nearby.

I was too lazy to dig a proper hole so I simply did my business where I could.

I used some wide leaves and the stream to clean myself as best as I could.

"I miss toilet paper already."

I didn't mind saying what I thought out loud.

As I pulled my pants up I felt something in my back pocket.

I laughed frantically as I thought life played one more cruel joke on me.

Somewhere along the line I had placed the battery in my back pocket and forget I left it there.

I laughed and laughed until the hilarity of the situation turned into more frustration.

I gritted my teeth as I held my tears in.

I took a few deep breaths and began to prepare another pit to light a fire.

I repeated the same steps as before except this time it was quicker to find dry materials.

I set the fire and began boiling the water.

In the meantime, I looked for a large thin flat rock to use as a plate.

Eating fly larvae raw was a horrible idea.

Flies tend to eat decaying things along with feces so they carry tons of bad bacteria.

When they laid eggs that bacteria would be spreading around the children. The bacteria had a large probability of being consumed by the larvae.

And I'm done with infections.

After the water cooled down, I drank some of it. I watched the larvae that used to be on the wound on my belly being cooked over the thin rock.

The bandage was simply thrown away.

I hate littering, but I wish to be forgiven this one time.

The scar was a large deep pink hole where the wound used to be. It was a bit itchy but no bruising or swelling.

I guess the debris from the ship explosion is part of me now.

I inspected my body trying to guess how long I was asleep, but I didn't possess enough knowledge to make a guess.

Instead, I was shocked at how skinny I got in comparison.

I had already begun the stages of a bead.

I felt a lot weaker as well. I knew my own perspective towards myself was distorted so I probably looked much worse than I thought.

I found crickets and other bugs to add to my insect salad.

I was extremely hungry and no longer disgusted.

It was food. And I was extremely grateful for the bounty.

I also found something similar to yellow dandelions here and there.

There are many types of dandelions and most are completely safe to eat. Despite this, some species have toxins in their roots that are best to be consumed after boiling.

The most common invasive species is the yellow one you see everywhere.

They're completely fine. And as such, I stocked up on them when I saw them.

Since they're sweet it is possible to make syrup from them.

How? That I don't actually know.

For the first time, I felt satisfied. I finished the entire canister and boiled another.

I laid in the grass staring into the sky a bit content with myself.

I put away the container after I was done. I put out the fire and zipped up the jumpsuit as today began to feel a bit chilly.

I found a comfortable tree and slept sitting with my back to the tree.

The dream was filled with unsubstantial shapes and figures.

A nice warm dream with vibrant colors.

It was a nice morning.

I felt groggy and a bit light-headed. But I was especially itchy from various bites around my body.

I looked out into the distance.

“As expected, the smoke cleared long ago.”

I remembered a forest fire, but not the direction.

I still had the fire pit so I decided to prepare a bit before continuing downstream.

After boiling more water and a bit more bugs the sun was still high. Because of this, I decided to move on.

I was chewing on a dandelion stem as I walked.

My legs were really wobbly and weak, but it was easier than before. Regardless, I still used my cane.

After a while of walking, I quickly stopped.

“!טיפש ארור”

I felt extremely excited at the sound of those words.

I almost wanted to run straight to the direction of the voice, but I was still weak and was already breathing heavily from the hike to get here.

".גרם לי לעבור כל כך הרבה צרות"

".שמח שהרגת אותו. הוא הכה אותי די טוב" Another voice responded to the first one.

I couldn’t understand their dialect. So I must have fallen in a foreign country.

At least I felt relieved. Stumbling through the trees my energy was giving out as I was getting excited.

Behind the foliage, I saw them. And I immediately froze.

I wasn’t trying to be sneaky so they quickly turned to face me.

Two men who looked older than they seemed. Wrinkles and place skin.

Tired expressions emphasized by obvious malnutrition.

One had an unkempt beard and the other seemed to have shaved with a dull knife.

Both had short brown hair that looked like they tried to cut it themselves.

Each wore dull-colored ragged clothing that dropped around them past their knees as if they were simply blankets with holes. Underneath the shirt were equally baggy tattered brown pants. Everything was held together by old leather belts tied around their waste. Their brown leather shoes were just as horribly worn and torn as their clothing.

In short, they looked like bums cosplaying in medieval clothing.

One stood next to the other holding a sword that was single-sided dripping in blood. It had a cheap wooden fixture for the handguard and handle. He was holding a dirty blood-stained shirt in his other hand.

The other man had a long wooden pole by his side as he kneeled over a corpse. He was in the middle of removing the boots that were barely any better than the shoes he wore.

The corpse still had his pants but was naked other than that.

His chest had a huge wound that was still gushing out blood. His head was hanging back as someone had removed the flesh in front of his throat.

For a corpse, his skin was brighter and his body was healthier than that of the two men who were looting him.

The scene brought a chill to my spine.

My eyes looked around.

To the leather bags by a tree a few feet away from them.

To a bloodied knife that was on the floor between the corpse and me.

I tried to analyze what happened and my eyes fell on an empty leather knife holster that the one standing was wearing.

My eyes slowly moved up looking at the left arm that was decorated by an ever-growing stain of blood.

He was hurt.

“?מה עושים איתו”

The tall one spoke as our eyes made contact.

I chuckled and gave an awkward smile.

My knees gave out and I fell to the floor. I had no more energy left.

“.תפוס אותו. בואו נמכור אותו”

The other continued his business and stopped looking my way as he spoke.

Should I run away? Should I fight back?

I was extremely desperate since I was so exhausted. Adrenaline started pouring through my blood, but I didn’t know what to do with it.

“Wait!” I shouted.

The one with the sword stopped walking towards me and had a confused expression. I also grabbed the attention of the one who was kneeling.

“You Anglo?” The tall one asked.

His accent was thick, but it seems he understood. A bit of hope shined in my eye as I thought I could talk my way out of this.

“Yes, yes. I am lost, can you help me!?” I responded out of pure instinct. I didn’t know what he meant but I was excited about having a response.

Not what I was expecting.

His eyes turned from curiosity into hatred.

I said something wrong. Was it the Anglo thing?

He dropped the shirt on the floor and waved the sword with his left hand.

I was afraid, but I wasn’t dumb. I immediately jumped back as the sword missed me and stuck itself in the tree that was next to me.

“Move your ass kid.”

A large leg stepped over me. As if seizing the opportunity, a large man swung an axe directed at the other guy's face.

The man who attacked me was in the middle of pulling out the sword from the tree. The moment he looked up an axe was already beginning to enter his face.

The large man had let go of his axe as it made contact and he began sprinting towards the looter kneeling over the corpse.

The looter was barely able to pick up the pole beside him before he was already tackled unto the ground.

I watched in shock and awe as the large man began beating the looter's face with his fists clothed in iron gloves.

The grit of the skull collapsing by his large fist was loud. Louder than the looter's attempts to scream which were turned to gargles as he choked with his own blood.

The man who attacked me before was hunched over face down without making a sound. The axe was stuck a third inside his face.

I was confused more than anything.

I sat silently watching, biting my lips, barely blinking. This was the first time I witnessed a murder. I didn’t know what to make of it.

If I was in better health would I have tried to fight?

It was drilled to me in the military that I must kill the enemy before they kill me.

No.

That I must disable them. After they have been deemed to no longer be a threat - due to the Geneva Convention - a surrendered or wounded enemy is protected under international law.

I won’t even get started under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

But I'm no longer a soldier and these were petty thieves.

The man in front of me continued beating into the skull of the looter. The corpse’s eye bulged out of its bony socket as blood continued to splatter. The cheekbone had already collapsed within and the metal gauntlet no longer produced a crunch on impact.

Will I have to report this to the police? This could still be considered manslaughter.

No.

If I was the one killing them, I wouldn’t want to be put in prison for getting rid of scourge.

My throat was already swelling up from the scene. My hands were trembling uncontrollably, but my mind was calm.

I wanted to get rid of these feelings for no other reason than I simply never want to feel weak in the future.

Once I return home everything will go back to normal and as the past twenty-three years of my life will continue uneventfully. But I still wanted these feelings gone.

I gently stood up and walked over to the thief with the axe in his head.

I put my thumb over his forehead and pulled the axe out with my other hand.

I had worked as a paramedic over some summers as internships for my pre-medical degree. I felt extremely shitty, and guilt would overflow when I saw people in near-death states.

But not this time.

This was a person who was about to kill me. I felt no guilt or sympathy. But I was still shaking. I felt cold.

It was a difficult feeling closer to that of disgust. It resembled the discomfort when you put a sharp object close to your eye or when you put a fingernail clipper over your teeth.

I wanted to vomit. Tears fell from my red eyes as I held back a jolt in the back of my throat. I pushed through the discomfort and dislodged the axe from his head.

I was still wearing my gloves so I didn't worry about the blood splatter when I jacked the axe.

The large man stopped and looked at me with curiosity.

I held out the axe.

"Thank you for saving me, here is your axe back."

"Haha, thank you, kid." His laugh felt weird over the current atmosphere. He seemed too relaxed despite what just happened.

He came over to take back the axe and walked to the baggage on the ground.

He threw it over me and said, "Check if they had food and eat. You look like you're about to collapse at any moment."

I said thanks and began to rummage the leather backpacks.

I took a moment to glance over the man.

A burly jolly man. His cheeks were full as his stomach. Muscles defined the exposed parts of his arms and hands.

A huge broad chest covered by a tattered brown shirt.

Brown hair showing his age with the occasional white. White that extended down to his mildly tamed beard and mustache. Decorated with a large red button nose.

He had grey pants similar to slacks held on by a black leather belt. Worn dirty boots covered his large feet.

He had metal elbow and arm guards that were stained black from age covering both arms. The metal extended to his medieval-style gauntlets which only covered over the back of his hands.

This gave freedom of movements to the fingers covered by the gauntlet’s leather.

"I'm called Mauldred, but my friends call me Mally."

He noticed me staring and gave a hearty laugh after his statement.

I chuckled a little at his name, but he didn't seem offended.

It calmed my nerves a bit.

He was putting the bloodied shirt dropped by the guy with the sword back on the corpse.

"Do you know him?" I asked.

"Yeh, he was my mate and the last of our crew after we took a contract in the village nearby. We were supposed to keep them from attacking the villagers until the Canaanite gladiators came to kill them off.

We were ambushed by the same creatures we were tasked to kill.

They slaughtered many of us. Me and Elnie here were the last two survivors. We were returning back to town to report on our failure.

On our way back Elnie went to piss and these poor lads saw him as an opportunity for some quick money. And that's that."

His eyes turned red as he explained, but his voice never changed tone.

I'm glad he is so easy to talk to, but now I felt bad for him. He seemed used to death all around, but...

Hold on.

"Canaanite? Gladiators?” I was morbidly confused.

"Huh? You're on the Canaan border. The Creatures are heavily aggressive, but we didn’t think they would outright ambush us like that."

He replied confused but that didn't set my mind at ease.

Canaan was a biblical name. It was the name of a country somewhere around the Mediterranean. Am I in the Middle East?

I looked through both bags in front of me and dumped all the contents out.

Canaanite… I kept thinking about a lot of stuff as I rummaged through the stuff.

There were only a few things I recognized. They were all made out of wood, textiles, and metal. My mind was going through different thoughts. Mostly on the possibility that somewhere along the line I broke my mind.

"Could I borrow your phone?"

"My what?"

"Phone."

"I'm sorry kid, I don't know what that is?"

"How far is the nearest town?"

"Could I ask something first?"

Not knowing what a cellphone is made me wonder more things than before. I was thinking furiously, trying to understand my situation so I wanted to know what he was going to ask.

"Sure."

"I'm curious to where yah come from. You told the Canaanite thief you were Anglo, which was completely stupid.

You speak Anglaise, but your accent is as weird as the clothes on yah.

I'd tell you the nearest town, but they'd kill you on-site if you were Anglo.

I doubt you knew, but the Angles Isles are at war with Canaan."

What the fuck are these places? Sure I wasn't the best in any of my geography classes, but all this confirms it. I'm either crazy or in a different place than the Earth I remembered.

Wait a minute. I looked back at the large blue sky. Past the cloud formations, a giant pale object competed in glory against the sun.

It had a large ring surrounding the planet.

Three other orbs of various sizes decorated the sky. They were significantly smaller

Why the hell didn't I notice this before? I'm not even on Earth. What the hell happened to me?

Wait, Mars was supposed to be the beginning of human colonization, so where is this?

I pointed into the sky. "What is that?"

Waiting for me to answer him, Mauldred was a bit disappointed when he heard my question.

"The god Saturnus? Or the other gods.

The small circles in the sky come and go.

They're gods that come in to check on us as they please.

Sometimes you can see more than twenty of them in the sky though, it has only happened once in legend hundreds of years ago.

Saturnus is the big one who never moves. He watches over as this world is his."

I listened attentively and nodded my head in affirmation as he continued.

"It is said that if you walk far enough west he will begin to set in the east, and if you walk far enough east he will set west until you are out of his sight.

He watches dead center over the holy nation of Gregoria and never moves either day or night from that very spot."

"And this planet. I mean, this world, what is it named?" I asked.

"Are you okay kid? It is called Titan."

He looked at me as If I was an uneducated country bumpkin while he answered.

I don't know if everything he said was the truth or not, but I will accept it for now.

In this new world, my priority was at first survival, but it has now become more complicated. I had to gather knowledge.

I can't commit the same mistake that almost got me killed earlier. So I decided to think carefully about my words before answering Mauldred's earlier question.

I was deep in thought while Mauldred looked at my face intensely. I decided to exaggerate my facial expression to express that I was truly confused.

"I'm sorry Mauldred, but I honestly don't know where I'm from or that I was at the Canaan border.

I seem to have been lost in this forest for a long time. So long that I think I may have become insane."

"I see." Mauldred's eyes became soft. He really was kind. "Well hurry up and eat, we can rest here for now. I don't recommend you to go to any of the towns or villages nearby by yourself, especially if you don’t know the language.

You can easily pass for an Anglo so if you want I can take you with me to Alistae.

As long as you follow me and stay quiet you can pass as a mercenary"

"Please do," I responded humbly. He was too trusting, or maybe I simply looked too pathetic. Either way, I was not going to complain about this golden opportunity.

I gave him my name and we talked a bit more about the surrounding area. I was careful to avoid mentioning anything from my past.

It seems we were going to go back to the town where he was contracted. He needed to warn the villagers about the creatures called Moot and the fact that his team was wiped out.

From what he described them, they sounded like large hairless bears that traveled in packs, but I’m debating whether he’s exaggerating or not.

I was in such horrible condition so Mauldred wanted to take it slow for my sake.

Inside the bags was a large flintstone. I assumed it was the fire starter the thieves used by striking it with the dagger.

A bag filled with a few coins Mauldred told me to hold on to.

From his explanation of currency, the bag contained shillings and pence. Depending on town and territory a shilling could be worth between eight to fifteen pence.

The pence were of varying sizes and called 1/8th pence, 1/4th pence, 1 half pence and a full pence, but their actual worth was based on their weight not their size.

To be honest, it was more complicated than it should be.

All countries used the same basis, but the coins had the insignia of the royalty of each kingdom. A Gregorian pence was the same as an Anglo pence and so forth.

This was simply because they were made of the same material and were roughly the same size.

So, in the end, most large trades were done by weighing coins instead of counting them.

The other items were rags of cloth and two pouches containing mint and salt.

Apart from that, there were some hard pieces of bread, one which was giving a rancid smell. Some raisins and a salted smoked rabbit leg.

As I ate I had removed my boots and let my socks to air out.

I massaged the soles of my feet thoroughly. I was afraid of developing anything more than blisters since I didn't want what happened to my hand to occur to my precious feet.

I wished that I had extra socks since mine had become crusty.

I thought about the thieves, but looking at their shoes I could only imagine the stench inside of them.

In the meantime, Mauldred went to bury his friend.

He had given me the sword and dagger carried by the looter that attacked me.

He warned me to clean the blood of both as soon as possible since they would rust stain and pit the blades.

He used the black stains that were already in the weapons of examples to what happened when they're not properly maintained.

Apparently, the sword was called a falchion and was taken from Elnie after they murdered him. Since Elnies demise, Mauldred wanted me to keep Elnies stuff since he would no longer need it.

Mauldred later returned with the equipment he and Elnie had been carrying and threw me Elnie's bag.

It was in better shape than the looters.

Mauldred kept most of Elnies items I packaged what I organized earlier along with what I had before.

The bag was a large cloth bag with straps that allowed me to wear it as a backpack.

“Hold on a moment kid.”

Mauldred walked over to me while pulling out a skinning knife. As he brought it close to my face I felt too weak to freak out. I simply closed my eyes instead.

I felt his sturdy hands caress the hair on my chin. “Don’t move or your neck might spew its innards.” It seems he used a comb and slid the knife across it.

After a few moments, he switched to the hair on my head.

“There yah go, looking better. Can’t have you looking like a beggar, you’d bring the wrong attention to yourself.”

“It’s not too far off kid, we’ll be there with enough time to have some food at their pub so take it easy.”

I nodded as I followed with my makeshift cane.

As the sun moved notably across the large planet with rings, I began noticing white smoke.

It was a small town of wooden and stone buildings.

The stone buildings looked like they just crudely threw whatever rocks to build a wall and filled the in-betweens with a cement-like paste. Most structures were of wood in Eastern European medieval-style manner.

I felt like I was on a movie set, but there were just so many odd things that stood out.

The amount of smoke coming out from all the buildings, made it seem like I was in the industrial age. But the black smoke that would come with such a scene was completely white instead.

The people were really peculiar. All the adults were at least 6ft or 180cm tall. Their skin colors varied significantly unlike one would expect from a medieval town.

Their clothing was also confusing. They understood the concept of shorts and shirts, but the materials were all rough. Some seemed like they simply grabbed a blanket, put holes in it, and simply tied it with a rope at the waist. Others had revealing shorts and tops that exposed their bellies.

As we got closer to the town, I took in this extremely foreign sight.

Following one of the trails of smoke that was out in the open, led to a communal well. There was a bronze machine vibrating like an engine.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it was running off steam, but how was the heat fueled and how did it work?

“Yah never seen a well pump before?” Mauldred looked at me as if he confirmed I was deep within the mountains.

I simply laughed in awkward silence and took the opportunity to ask a question of a different subject.

My eyes pointed at a girl that was filling some buckets using the well pump.

“I thought the Anglo were hated here, so why is her shirt in English?’

“It’s pronounced Anglaise kid, and of course they would hate their enemy in wartime.

But.

The language has been around longer, and it’s a world common language people use for trade and the like. So of course the lords will print all their propaganda in the language most people know how to read in.”

“Propaganda?” I read the words on the girl's shirt. “Gladiator Vayentha, Angel of War!”

It looked hand sewn and very messy, but it still seemed professional. The picture underneath was of a female warrior surrounded by green smoke holding a sword to the air.

Walking away and gesturing me to follow Mauldred answered some of the questions floating in my head.

"They sell those shirts in the main city along with other kiddie toys. Gladiators who become successful get all kinds of perks kid." He chuckled.

"The Lord Preciosa loves her Colosseum since it's the biggest moneymaker in the city for her personal wallet. So she does a lot of propaganda to bring people from all over the world."

Mauldred stopped by a teen who was shouting in foreign words. He had tons of papers in his hand which Mauldred bought one of. The kid bowed and continued shouting at other people walking in town.

"Here. Since you can read you'll learn more from this than me."

Mauldred handed me the paper he bought.

I looked over the parchment that felt rough. All the ink was added by hand.

I couldn't read the foreign words on the paper.

"Haha no, you uncooked corn kettle. Flip the paper, most flyers are in the language of residents and the world language."

I chuckled at the way he called me dumb and turned the page to read. It really was in English, or Anglaise as it was called here…

I skimmed through the flyer looking only at things that stood out;

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bienvenue to the revered city of Al-Kareem!

Foundation of all carnal desires and excitement. The capital of entertainment in the name of Gladius! The home to the best gladiators of all Canaan!

We invite you to the Tourney of Gladius. A week-long initiation of slaves, criminals and volunteers. Their pitmasters will be none other than your favorite celebrities.

Vayentha The Emerald - Angel of War

Oro of Stone - Outcast of Gregoria

Michaelo - Twin Swords of The Sands

Sofia The Ractia - Empress of Scarlet Wings

Agrabah - The Goobaloo

Hyeon-Jun - Wrath of Ompurus

Safai of Blue - The Hallowed Mystic

....

-----------------------------------------------------------

The paper went on with more names, time frames, and other information. I was mentally comparing the information presented here with my own knowledge about the roman colosseum.

But this world was so different I didn't know what to expect.

As we were walking through town my head kept bobbing around in wonder.

People kept walking in and out of wooden buildings with white smoke. The wood was painted of different designs and colors. Large neon signs flashed inviting visitors into the shops.

Wait, neon?

As I was questioning the inconsistency of an electronic I was pulled from my thoughts by Mauldred.

“We’re here kid, yah get settled down by the table I’ll get us some food.” Mauldred patted my back as he dragged me into the building.

He saluted some patrons and a male bar-keep in their language.

I kept my head down and sat at a free table. Most things decorating the place were made out of wood clay or textiles, with the occasional extra materials. All obviously handcrafted.

I avoided looking at the other patrons since they were all staring at me. I was too shy to make any form of eye contact.

There was a weird lantern in the center of the table. It had a red crystal in the center and there was no way to turn it on. I was fiddling diligently when...

“הנה אתה!"

A lady in her late forties with some fancy hand-sewn cloth dress that looked as a barmaid set a wooden cup filled with some liquid in front of me.

I simply nodded and gave a weak smile. She walked away leaving me to my drink.

A large burly man sat down in the chair in front of me with a large mug in his hand and gave me quite the scare.

He also touched the stone and it lit up the table with a soft light.

“Ha ha ha! Calm down, kid. The food will be brought to us shortly. Also, that’s pear juice with sugar so it’s a nice flavor.” He saw that I was fiddling with the cup so he edged me to try it.

I honestly never tried pear juice before. And now I know why. It was nice, but not my choice of drink.

“Are you not sad?”

The question that has been bugging me the most finally came out of my lips. I had so many feelings raging inside of me, but the shock of the looters Mauldred killed was the strongest.

“I mean about losing your friend?” I reworded my question since Mauldred was silent.

“Of course kid. Who wouldn’t be?”

His jolly facial expression hardened into a more serious one.

“I knew Elnie for many years. But not something to think too much about in my line of work or you’ll always be depressed.”

He took a deep breath. “I only wish I could give my friends a better burial, but that’s our main rule yah know. Just move on.”

“Do you regret trying to take the monsters on?”

“Nah kid. It was unfortunate, but it is what it is. We were simply inexperienced that’s all.”

“Inexperienced?” I was extremely curious about him.

“Yeah, I was a soldier most of my life so I usually only dealt with people, not creatures. And Moots. Well, I’ve heard of them before, but they’re not native to where I’m from.”

“I see, and where are you from?”

Mauldred took a large swig from his beer.

“I’m from the Anglo Isles, Praska to be exact. Ha, ha kid, don’t be surprised!” He responded to the expression I made when he said he’s Anglo.

“Just cause Canaan is at war with the Anglo doesn’t mean I can’t be born there. My family moved to Canaan years ago and I grew up, even joined the Canaan army.”

I was confused, “Then why do I have to be careful?”

“Because unlike me you don’t have any speaking capacity that won’t keep you from being randomly thrown in jail.”

I looked down and shivered at the thought. He was right. I had already fucked up and almost got killed before.

“Don’t yah worry, not everyone is racist. Stick by me kid, I don’t mind the company. It would also help if you simply acted like you’re a country bumpkin from the west border of Canaan. Most Canaanites west of Al-Kareem speak Anglais so you’ll be fineeeee ha ha ha.”

He took another drink of his beer and set the mug down with a strong grip. The food was brought to us. They were soups of various vegetables and frankly it looked unappetizing.

Regardless, I ate happily.

I asked various annoying questions about what I saw in the town.

Everything was powered with steam, fueled by coal or akolite stones.

I was skeptical at the akolite stones he mentioned, so he used the lamp in front of me as an example. He mentioned that I simply needed to imbue my mana into the crystal to turn it on and off. He did it with ease, but I knew he was messing with me with his talk about magic, but I listened anyway.

The neon lamps were powered by the same stones according to him.

Apparently, they didn’t know about the concept of electricity and called it magic. But he did mention people using lightning as a form of magic in the gladiator matches.

In conclusion, our conversation was nice and although it was a little bit informative I was more confused by the end of it.

Mauldred brought me out back to a ladder leading to a second floor.

I was intensely looking at the neon signs trying to figure out how they worked, while Mauldred pulled me around.

“Our group had rented the three rooms above the second floor, but…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence for me to understand. To save money we’ll be sleeping in here. Tomorrow I’d like us to go back to the forest to look for the rest of my men’s corpses if you’d like to help?”

I smiled and simply agreed, I owed much to him to not help him with a small favor.

I looked down to my stomach and touched it

I was also pleased that the wound in my stomach was no longer acting up and only a large gooey scab remained of that horrible experience.

I also felt my legs better that I decided to stop using the cane to gain some more leg strength.

After leaving our stuff in Mauldred’s room he went to the other rooms and cleared out his friends belongings as well.

“You can come with me to the town chief or stay here. Night will come soon, but I still need to let the chief know about the monsters.”

I replied that I’d like to go, I wanted to learn more about the town.

It took us only a few moments before we were in the center of town again.

There was a huge stone building with a giant religious symbol on top of it.

It was a plus like cross with a circle around.

“The chief usually helps out at the church.” Mauldred simply commented as we walked into the building.

The giant glass panes were glowing and transmitting a beautiful atmosphere into the building.

It was a large open hall with wooden benches on two columns leading to a large marble altar. The glass windows were too bright for me to make out any of the religious shapes.

There were tons of people sitting around an area with benches pushed aside. Children, teens, and adults were using brushes and ink to draw on parchments. It seemed they were making similar flyers to the one Mauldred bought for me.

“Welcome back Mauldred, how did the expedition go?” A bald old man with crows feet on his brown eyes looked up as he was sitting on the floor. He had a baggy white shirt made with the best quality I’ve seen so far. He had clean black pants and a proper black leather belt holding them up.

“Not so good I’m afraid. Chief, we were ambushed. Me and the kid are all that’s left.”

Mauldred responded to his question with soft eyes. “We were able to injure some during the attack, but it may not be enough to keep them from hunting the town residents.”

The Chief’s face was one of fear. His hands were trembling. The other people who were diligently working on the floor went silent.

They continued conversing about the topic in a serious tone. The conversation went back and forth in their language, but Mauldred kept turning it back into English for me.

Apparently, they didn’t know when the Pack of Moots would attack the Villagers. The Gladiators that Lady Preciosa, the Viscount, and Lord of this territory, dispatched wouldn’t be here until two days from now.

According to the Chief, there were some types of vehicles that could travel between the city and this town in a few hours, but the monsters were not a high priority compared to the huge festival they were preparing to honor the week of Gladius.

"רֹאשׁ! רֹאשׁ!"

Everyone turned to look at the front doors of the church where a young man rushed in screaming.

The youth was gasping from air, his face was pale as a ghost.

“Calm down son! What is it!?” Mauldred put his hand on the youth’s shoulder to comfort him.

The youth answered with a terrified face.

Mauldred looked at me and said, “The Moot’s are attacking the farmer’s family at the barley fields!”

I looked at the Chief who said something in Anglais. He said it with such malice it was intentional he avoided speaking in his native language. “That stupid little girl did some shit again, I just know it!”

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>>===== Through the eyes of the daughter =====---

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I had woken up and my sister had placed something cold on my bruised eye.

It stung.

“Shhh, this will heal your eye little Pebble.”

It brought me comfort when she said my name.

I wanted to cry again when I felt my bottom lips shake.

“Big sis, is this Ice?” The cold stuff was so rare you could easily get a job at a restaurant in a city if you learned how to make it.

“Yeah, the priest's son made some for me with arctic magic.”

“But I thought he hated me!”

“Don’t worry I told him it was for me.” Claudia had a warm smile when she pulled her hair back to show me her face.

“See we’re twin-sies.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. I was sad that Claudia’s beautiful face was bruised and swollen, but it made me feel better that she shared her pain with me.

She was hurt by her father when she tried to protect me. I was hurt by the town that punished me for hurting them. I was a bad kid and she was an angel. I didn’t deserve this amazing sister.

“Come, let's go to the city and I’ll buy you this season's flyer of the gladiator festival. The caller is in town today”

We were too poor to visit the city and even more so to enter the colosseum, but we were both so in love with the idea of it. The idea of strong and powerful women who came from being super poor becoming heroes in the eyes of the country. Something little old me could only enjoy in my fantasies.

Claudia helped me collect everything we could about the gladiators.

Claudia’s favorite was Vayentha The Emerald, which is why she liked to dress in green. Claudia always wanted to learn how to use green smoke magic to look like Vayentha in her pictures. Vayentha was the top gladiator in Al-Kareem who not only won hundreds of battles, but they say she is the strongest female magic-user who could make the Earth dance around her giant sword and shield.

Claudia was popular with the boys so she got a lot of presents and toys of Vayentha. One time she was able to trick a boy that liked her into gifting her a napkin with Sofia The Ractier embroidered in it for me. It’s my most prized treasure.

Because Sofia is my favorite gladiator. They called her the Scarlet wings because she could use fire to momentarily lift herself when fighting with her polearm.

I was just so excited about getting the new fliers and seeing all the cool stuff they had on it.

Together we quickly finished out chores and avoided our parents. Claudia knew I was still sensitive about what happened a few nights ago.

I was so excited when we made it to the town. It was still early in the day and I saw the mercenaries grouped up in the town center.

I remember the promise I made to myself when I was tied up on the pole.

I was going to run away and the mercenaries were my ticket.

I mean, I would have been scared running away with strangers if I was pretty, but nothing bad would happen. At least they wouldn’t hate me like all the people in town do because they don’t know me.

It would be a fresh start, and the older man who looks to be the group leader seemed to be the nicest person I ever saw. For an old man, his cheeks were so red and bubbly that I wanted to pinch them. Mauldred, was his name?

“Is his name Mauldred or Mally?” I asked Claudia as we walked through the town.

She looked over at the group of men and laughed, “I think both. Mally seems to be his nickname.”

“Oooooh.” I was giggling to his weird nickname. Wasn’t it a girl’s name?

“Look, look the teller is there.” Claudia got excited when she saw a teenager who was her age yelling about the week of Gladius.

I ran to catch up with her and waited for her to buy the flyer. We were so giddy reading through the paper.

“Maybe dad can go this year?” As a little kid, I didn’t know how insensitive the question was.

Claudia's face became depressed. I should have known that there was no possible way we could afford the tickets to go. Each ticket costs one whole month of what our parents made. A ticket only lets you enter the colosseum for a single day.

Claudia saw my face and realized she dimmed the mood, so she slapped her cheeks and said to me. “If not this year one year we will go, I’ll save up money for the both of us!”

I was so excited.

But it didn’t last long as I remembered today was the day I would run away.

Claudia saw my moody face so she tried to cheer me up. “Hey let’s go pick sugar cane by the stream. I can make us some sweets.”

I gave Claudia a weak smile as I began to regret my plan. But I had set it in stone within my stubborn childish heart.

When we returned home I grabbed my basket and prepared to forage for foodstuff.

I sneakily packed my napkin and collection of fliers in my basket and covered it with one of my dresses to make it look like I was going to collect berries in my basket.

I had planned last night that I would steal one of dad’s knives to make myself useful to the mercenaries. I would work with them and they would feed me. Maybe I could also help carry their stuff and make it easier for them.

As I prepared to go leave I was thinking about saying goodbye to everyone. But then I heard my dad yell from inside the barn.

“Don’t go too far in the forest you little shit. I don’t want you to cause any more fucking problems.”

I was so mad at hearing my dad. I kept myself from crying and tightened my hand in a fist. I stormed off into the forest determined to find the mercenaries.

It didn’t take long to reach their scouting camp. I made sure to pay attention to their loud conversation when we were in town. It’s not like it was a secret, everyone knew what they were doing and were cheering them on because the monsters were scary.

I was hiding behind a tree waiting for my chance to introduce myself to my new co-workers.

But then…

The monsters were already there.

It was horrible.

I didn’t see anyone who was alive, just blood and dead people littered around the camp.

The scary creatures were eating them.

I remembered the last time I met them and staying still was a bad idea.

I decided to run.

So I ran back home as fast as possible. I ran and ran without looking back.

I had lost another basket with my stuff, but I didn't care. I didn’t want to die like that. I didn’t want to be monster food.

I could hear the growls of the monsters, they were chasing me.

I looked to my left and saw one of them running alongside me. But it was ignoring me. I saw the large open fields of my parents' farms and saw them jump out to head to the farm. I was so scared that I didn’t want to follow them home.

Instead, I climbed a tree. I didn’t want them to get me.

When I reached the top of the tree I saw another monster run by. I quickly closed my eyes and held unto the tree.

I was so scared I wanted someone to save me.

But I didn’t want to scream.

I just wanted to be saved.